SPE BD A&D Symposium

Doug Reynolds joined the energy & power investment banking group at Piper Sandler® in 2020.

Previously, Reynolds was head of U.S. energy corporate and investment banking at Scotiabank. Prior to that, he was the head of U.S. upstream investment banking at a leading investment bank. He has led nearly $100 billion of merger, acquisition, divestiture and capital markets assignments in the energy industry across six continents and more than 30 countries during his career.

Reynolds earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Colgate University.

Robert joined Wood Mackenzie in 2005 as an original member of the Houston-based Lower 48 Upstream Research group. He led Woodmac’s modeling of the Barnett, Eagle Ford, and Haynesville plays, specifically covering XTO, EOG, CHK, ECA, & DVN.

From 2009 to 2014 he managed global shale, CBM, and tight gas research, with a focus on benchmarking and valuing exploratory shale projects. In this role, Robert worked extensively with supermajors and governments. He now leads much of Woodmac’s tight oil research and works closely with domestic E&Ps, service companies, and US investors.

Robert specializes in play characterization, portfolio valuation, operator benchmarking, and sector analysis. He has worked on upstream consulting projects ranging from shale opportunity screenings for NOCs, to due diligence for private equity-led M&A. Robert regularly contributes his research to written media. And he is a frequent speaker and moderator at industry conferences.

Prior to joining Wood Mackenzie, Robert worked as a field geologist at a private engineering firm in Houston. He graduated Cum Laude from Texas A&M University in 2001 with a BA in Geology and received a MBA in 2005 from the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona. He is also an adjunct professor in the Energy MBA program at the Neeley School of Business at TCU.

Chris Atherton is the Chief Executive Officer and President of EnergyNet, Inc. EnergyNet is a technology-enabled upstream oil and gas asset acquisition and divestiture platform specializing in auction sales, sealed bid transactions and government lease sales. Chris has been part of the EnergyNet team since 2002. He has been actively involved as the firm has completed over $9B in transactions including sell-side mandates from thousands of Exploration and Production clients. Chris leads a multi-disciplinary team of 50 professionals specializing in engineering, geology, land, technical, business development, marketing, IT and administration.

Chris has 23 years of experience in the energy industry. Chris graduated from Texas State in San Marcos with a business management and marketing degree. Prior to EnergyNet, Chris worked at the Enron Corporation in Houston, Texas

Chris currently serves on the board of directors of the Houston Producers Forum and is the Business Development & Membership Chairman for the IPAA. Chris recently served as the Chairman of the Wildcatter’s Host Committee for the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers and served as the Chairman for the SPE-Gulf Coast Section Business Development Group. Chris holds series 39, 22 and 63 SEC licenses.

Rene McKale is a Managing Director with Energy Advisors Group (“EAG”) in the firm’s head office in Houston, Texas.  EAG is an oil and gas advisory firm specializing in upstream acquisitions and divestitures, and has been delivering value to clients with transaction, packaging and marketing services for more than 30 years. The company maintains a stable of investment banking and technical professionals complemented by a proprietary digital platform.  Rene sources and leads assignments for the firm and is responsible for technical oversight and day-to-day operations.

Rene’s 20+ years in industry, and 15+ years in energy advisory includes a full range of asset and corporate transactions: buyside and sellside, conventional and unconventional, on- and offshore, domestic and international.  Rene developed extensive US experience covering assets in the Eagle Ford, Permian, Mid-Continent, Rockies, Appalachia, and Alaska as well as in the Gulf of Mexico, supplemented by a broad international body of work across Latin America (primarily Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia), West Africa and Southeast Asia.  Rene’s resume includes more than 50 transactions worth over $40 billion in aggregate value.

Prior to EAG, Rene was with Scotiabank/Scotia Waterous for 15+ years, and served as a Director for their Houston investment banking team, focusing on upstream and midstream oil and gas M&A&D.  Rene is also an experienced reservoir engineer, previously gaining experience with ConocoPhillips in the United Arab Emirates, petroleum engineering consulting firm Gaffney, Cline & Associates in Houston, Texas, and a mid-size independent in Calgary, Canada.

Rene holds a degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Alberta, Canada, completed studies in Renewable Energy Technologies, and holds FINRA Series 63 and 79 certifications.  Rene is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) and the Society of Petroleum Engineers, volunteering for the SPE's Gulf Coast Section Business Development Study Group.

Mark Nelson is Executive Director and Lead of US A&D within the Energy, Infrastructure & Transitions Investment Banking group at CIBC Capital Markets, which is the capital markets and corporate banking division of CIBC.  Before joining CIBC in 2011, he worked in finance at several private equity-backed energy companies from 2009 – 2011. 

Mark earned his B.S from Arizona State University and MBA from Rice University.

Mark Sooby joined Lazard in 2018 as a Managing Director in the Global Energy Group, focused on providing advisory services to upstream oil and gas companies.  He is based in Lazard’s Houston office.

Mark has over 40 years of upstream oil and gas experience with 65+ transactions totaling over $150 billion. Notable transactions include the merger of Premier Oil and Chrysaor to form Harbour Energy, merger of Carrizo Oil and Gas with Callon Petroleum, TPG Pace Energy’s acquisition of Enervest’s South Texas shale assets, Noble Energy’s Utica/Marcellus shale exit, Petrobras sale of BM-S-8 Carcara discovery to Statoil, Shell’s divestiture of South Texas gas assets to Occidental and Encana’s Haynesville JV with ExxonMobil.

Mark has extensive experience with asset transactions in North America as well as in major producing areas worldwide.  Prior to joining Lazard, Mark was a Managing Director with Deutsche Bank from 2017 to 2018 providing upstream clients in advisory services.

Mark furthered his oil and gas career with Pacific Enterprises Oil Company in 1984. In 1992, he joined NationsBanc Capital Markets Inc, as a Vice President of Energy A&D/M&A. In 1996, he joined ARCO International as Director of M&A and subsequently moved to London with responsibility over business development in the Middle East and Africa. From 1999 to 2006, Mark was with Petrie Parkman & Co., where he remained through its 2006 sale to Merrill Lynch and subsequently with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. In 2017, Mark joined Deutsche Bank as Managing Director of Americas A&D/M&A, where he remained until joining Lazard in 2018.

Kansas State University, B.S. in Nuclear Engineering; Wichita State University, M.B.A.

Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Kansas

Mr. Nichols is Head of Upstream Investment Banking at TPH. Prior to joining TPH, Mr. Nichols was a regional planning advisor and business unit coordinator at ExxonMobil Upstream Ventures. Mr. Nichols began his career in the United States Army serving as a Captain with the 911th Engineer Company and a First Lieutenant with the Second Engineer Battalion. Mr. Nichols holds a BS and Masters in Science from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Adam has served as Corporate Development Manager for Southwestern Energy since March 2020.  In this capacity, he is responsible for economic evaluation of A&D opportunities and corporate strategy for the company.  Adam has been a key contributor to SWN’s transformation over the past two years with  the acquisition of Montage Resources, Indigo Resources and GEP Haynesville.  Prior to this role, he served as Manager of Operational and Development Planning for Southwestern Energy’s Southwest Appalachia assets and was responsible for budgeting, forecasting and development planning.  Adam Joined Southwestern in 2009 and has worked in roles ranging from field rotational engineer, drilling engineer, reservoir engineer, operational planning manager and various expanding leadership roles.  Mr. Esparza holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from Marietta College and currently is the acting Chairman of the industry advisory committee at the college.

Mr. Dixon has over 20 years of experience in the energy industry and currently serves as Director - Business Development, A&D at Chesapeake Energy Corporation.  He has previously held various positions with increasing responsibilities within the Business Development and A&D groups at Chesapeake, after initially joining the company as an Acquisitions Analyst in 2003.  Mr. Dixon began his career as an Accountant at Devon Energy after graduating from the University of Central Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance.

Laura joined SilverBow in 2018 and has led the company through over $700mm of acquisitions in her role as Director of Business Development. Prior to that, she was at J.P.Morgan in Energy Investment Banking and A&D. Laura started her career with Talisman Energy as a Drilling Engineer and has held various positions including Development Engineer, Reservoir Engineer and Commercial Analyst across both Canadian and US assets.

Laura holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Calgary and an MBA from Rice University.

Gabe is a Senior Project Manager for the Business Development (BD) team at Repsol, based in The Woodlands, TX. He has over 21 years of experience working in commercial areas in the oil and gas industry including business development, commercialization/marketing, planning, strategy and energy consulting.

Gabe is currently focused on US Lower 48 business opportunities and specifically in Repsol core areas of the Eagle Ford and Marcellus shale. Prior to joining the Repsol Americas BD team, Gabe spent over 2 years with the Gulf of Mexico Business Unit and prior to that he held a range of positions in the company’s Vietnam Business Unit during a four-year assignment. He joined the company in 2011 and has worked in BD and other commercial roles based in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia/PNG, Vietnam and the US. Prior to his start within an E&P organization in 2011, Gabe spent 10 years in energy consulting advising energy companies active in gas and LNG markets in the US and Asia. Gabe holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the George Washington University where he completed a dual major in Finance and Information Systems.

Barry Osborne is Vice President of Land and Corporate Development for Range Resources Corporation in its Pittsburgh area office, joining Range in 2012. Prior to Range, Barry served as Land Manager and General Counsel to Vantage Energy. Barry previously served as Associate General Counsel for Encana Oil & Gas (USA), Inc., as well as Vice President of Land and Legal for Cornerstone E&P Company and Matador Petroleum Corporation.  Barry began his career in private practice in Austin, Texas specializing in commercial and oil and gas law. Barry is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas School of Law, is licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of Texas, and is Board Certified in Oil, Gas and Mineral Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Nicholas O’Grady has served as our Chief Executive Officer since January 2020. Mr. O’Grady joined NOG
in June 2018, previously serving as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer. He also held the title of
President from September 2019 until his promotion to CEO. Mr. O’Grady leads the NOG team in all
aspects of the business, including acquisitions, investments, financial management and business
strategy. Over his tenure, the NOG team has executed on acquisitions and related financings worth
billions of dollars. Prior to NOG, Mr. O’Grady had nearly two decades in energy-related finance
experience, both as an investment banker and as a principal investor. Mr. O’Grady began his career in
the Natural Resources investment banking group at Bank of America. Later moving the asset
management business, he worked at firms such as Highbridge Capital Management. Immediately prior
to NOG, Mr. O’Grady worked at Hudson Bay Capital Management, where he focused on energy-related
equities, public credit, and private and direct investments. Mr. O’Grady holds a Bachelor of Arts in both
History and Economics from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

Matt is a Partner at Quantum and co-founded Quantum’s credit & structured capital complex, QL Capital Partners. Prior to joining Quantum, Matt spent 12 years with the energy investment banking group of Jefferies, most recently as a Senior Vice President in the corporate finance group. His experience included strategic and M&A advisory, debt and equity capital markets and specifically structured capital transactions. During his tenure, Matt was involved in a total of over 75 upstream and midstream transactions for a broad set of clients ranging from prominent private companies to the largest public independents. Matt holds an A.B. in Economics and a certificate in Finance from Princeton University.

Adam Griffin joined Grey Rock in 2016 and is a Partner focusing on Land & Business Development.  Mr. Griffin oversees Grey Rock’s Land Department and A&D transaction activities, which responsibilities include:  management of portfolio assets, maintaining relationships with operators and JV partners, new business origination, transaction structuring and negotiations, execution of acquisitions and divestitures.  

Prior to joining Grey Rock, Mr. Griffin spent thirteen years with J-W Operating Company.  During his role as Land Manager and Vice President of Land, Mr. Griffin oversaw the Land Department, dedicating his efforts towards helping his team achieve continued efficiencies in all areas within the Land Department while supporting the operations team in multi-county drilling programs within the ARK-LA-TEX region. 

Mr. Griffin is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Landmen (AAPL) and the Dallas Association of Petroleum Landmen.

Mr. Griffin is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Energy Management with a minor in Finance and he holds the Certified Professional Landman (CPL) designation through AAPL.

Bill Lambert joined Devon as the Vice President of Business Development in 2021.  Prior to joining Devon, Bill was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs Energy Investment Banking group in Houston where he worked from 2013 through 2020.  Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Bill was a member of Deutsche Bank’s Energy Investment Banking team in Houston.  Bill started his career with Schlumberger as Field Engineer in their Wireline business in Southeast Asia.  He earned his Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from Vanderbilt University in 2003 and a Masters in Business Administration from Vanderbilt University in 2008.

Brooks M. Shughart became our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in May 2020. Previously, Mr. Shughart served as a Managing Director of First Reserve, which he joined in August 2012, and served on our Board from June 2015 until May 2020. His responsibilities ranged from deal origination and structuring to due diligence, execution and monitoring, with particular focus on the reserves sector. Prior to joining First Reserve, Mr. Shughart was a Director in the mergers and acquisitions group for Credit Suisse from June 2006 to August 2012. Prior to Credit Suisse, he held positions in the energy groups of Lazard Frères, DLJ and Credit Suisse First Boston Corporation. Mr. Shughart holds a BBA in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin.

Mike John founded NNE in 2009 and continues to serve as its President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. John previously served as Vice President of Operations of the Eastern Division for Chesapeake Energy from 2005-2009. Prior to joining Chesapeake Energy, Mr. John held various senior executive roles at Triana Energy/Columbia Natural Resources, where he also served on the company’s Board of Directors until Columbia Natural Resources was sold to Chesapeake in 2005. During this time with Chesapeake, Mr. John was instrumental in the drilling, completion, and operation of Chesapeake’s initial 100 horizontal Marcellus wells in Appalachia. Mr. John is a West Virginia native and a 1981 graduate of West Virginia University with a degree in petroleum engineering. He has served on the Board of Directors for the WVU Alumni Association and resides in Charleston, WV with his wife Denise.

Jason currently serves as the President and CEO of privately held Birch Permian Holdings, Inc., an active horizontal well development company in the Midland Basin, Texas. Since the company was founded in 2018, Birch pursued an accelerated development model, drilling nearly 400 Hz wells, across 6 stratigraphic targets, and ramped production to over 100,000 BOEPD Net.

Prior to his Birch Permian experience, Jason joined Rock Oil II as president, in March 2014. Rock Oil II was a Riverstone portfolio company with the specific strategy of applying the company’s land and technical expertise to the acquisition and development of assets in top-tier North American unconventional oil plays. During the Rock Oil II life-cycle, we were able to accumulate a large, contiguous position in the Northern Midland basin, execute an appraisal and delineation program and ultimately sell our asset base to SM Energy for $980 MM in the Fall of 2016.

Prior to joining Rock Oil II, Cansler spent nearly 15 years integrating his geologic understanding of oil and gas reservoirs with the commercial skills necessary to acquire and develop them. He spent the first eleven years of his career at Chevron working in various technical and commercial roles both onshore and offshore. After his time at Chevron, he joined a small team at Wells Fargo to found its Oil and Gas Acquisitions and Divestiture Team, where he participated in buy‐side and sell‐side advisory assignments that led to $4.4 billion in closed transactions between 2011‐2014. Jason received his B.S. and M.S degrees in Geology from Kansas State University and University of Kansas (respectively), and his MBA from Tulane University.

Trent co-founded TRP in 2015 and serves as Co-Chief Executive Officer. He oversees TRP’s strategy, investment origination, portfolio execution and firm management. Over his 25 years in the business, Trent has specialized in providing oil and gas acquisition and divestiture (A&D) advisory services to private and public companies. Prior to starting TRP, Trent was a Managing Director and led J.P. Morgan’s A&D group within the Natural Resources Investment Bank. Prior to that, he was Executive VP at Albrecht & Associates, where he managed the day-to-day A&D practice.

Trent received a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University and is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. He lives in Houston with his wife and two children.

Charlie Shufeldt is the President of Elk Range Royalties. Charlie and Clint formed the company in early 2020 to fill a need they saw in the market for producing minerals and royalties. Prior to forming Elk Range, Charlie was a co-founder and Managing Director of IOG Capital, LP and President of IOG Resources, LLC. During his time with IOG, the company was a pioneer in structuring DrillCo transactions, deploying over $800mm in capital across more than 500 wells since 2015.

Charlie began his career with Bank of America in California before moving to Texas with HBK Capital Management. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University where he studied Economics and Computer Science. Charlie has remained involved with his alma mater and currently serves as Chairman of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability’s Petroleum Investments Committee (PIC).

Charlie lives in Dallas with his wife and three daughters. When he's not busy working on oil and gas deals, he enjoys spending time in the mountains with his family.